Junction
by Janika
Summary: Janika can't seem to get a grip on herself. Something strange happened in Lyoko recently and it's making her do some pretty awful things which probably have something to do with XANA... 4th episode
1. Freeze

**_Post-production note: I started and finished this series using only season 1 as a guide since it didn't come out until I'd almost completed everything. I also thought the only way for Jeremy to devirtualize them was through Towers since he didn't do that until...was it season 3?  
_**

**Janika has moved to Kadic and helped thwart X.A.N.A. three times already: helping the gang reach a Tower through the treetops, deleting new monsters X.A.N.A. stole from her, and keeping Aelita from falling to her death. Now she may be the object of the evil computer's new plot...**

**Just for the record, I made up the name "Janika" and did not copy it from any band or company or whatever. I am a very original person who works with her own ideas (which is why I write fanfiction).**

**4-1: Freeze**

(((-1-)))

Janika felt her pulse quicken as she raced across the barren landscape, her friend at her side. The cold seemed to emanate from everything around her, especially Yumi. They drew closer to the Tower and halted just outside.

The cheetah-girl lowered herself into a crouching position to inspect the place. Aelita was within and the coast appeared clear. Casting a final chilling glance in her direction, Yumi ran into the Tower's wall.

Janika nervously surveyed the area. This place was really getting to her head. She felt like something was always watching her. She turned around quickly, but nothing was there. After a few more moments she forced herself to relax. Jitters. Just jitters.

With an apprehensive sigh she leaned against a huge light-colored root. It felt warm for some reason. Daydreams and memories began to pester her. If only Odd hadn't squealed on her the week before then Yumi never would have started competing with her for Ulrich's affections.

But if Ulrich would only spend more time with her, she _knew_ he would see something that made her special.

_If_. That in itself was the catch. Anytime she got too close, her mouth gummed up and her thoughts got stuck in quicksand. What was she doing wrong? Why didn't he ever look straight at her? Odd always looked at her. He _was_ kinda cute and funny sometimes. But still...

Janika's eye caught a strange light. It passed through the pale rootlike structure she was leaning against. One of her weapons was in her hand in a flash. Nothing happened. She eased up a bit.

Maybe her eyes were just playing tricks on her. With a flourish she experimentally tossed the shuriken at the weird root. It held fast.

(V)

A red beam of energy traveled along the root's path, intent on taking control of another Tower. Something was in its way! Unable to stop, the energy encompassed the strange program that was blocking it. The program was linked to a larger one... one with a consciousness.

(V)

Suddenly Janika saw bright lights streaking across her vision! Explosions went off in her brain and her body shook from the shock. The feeling was gone in a second, but she leaned heavily on her hands, her chest feeling constricted. Numbness settled on her limbs, dragging them down. What just happened?

The teenager stood up unsteadily. Her knees trembled. Where were Yumi and Aelita?

"J-Jeremy?" she stuttered.

"Right here, Janika. Is something wrong?"

"Maybe. There's a root and...I feel weak. How are my stats?"

There was a pause as the computer's operator brought up her information. "Everything checks out. Lifepoints are at maximum. How do you feel?"

Janika ignored the question as she tried to stay on her feet. She swayed precariously. "Where are Aelita and Yumi?"

Jeremy called and the two girls answered promptly. "They're inside. Maybe you should join them."

"I guess so."

She started walking, but as soon as she'd taken a step, she fell flat on her face. Janika groaned, but made no move to get up. All strength was being sapped from her body, ebbing as though she were being drained dry by some sort of Lyokan vampire.

Jeremy was getting very worried. "Maybe I should materialize you."

Just then the two girls left the Tower. They stepped out into the frozen landscape and started at the sight of Janika lying on the ground without moving.

"Jeremy, what happened?" Yumi demanded. "Was she attacked?"

"No, she just tripped."

Aelita ran over to her friend. "I was finishing the survey of the area to find the Tower I thought X.A.N.A. might be trying to activate next, but it wasn't even touched. I must have made a miscalculation."

Jeremy recalled the reason they were there: to test Aelita's prediction of X.A.N.A.'s attack-pattern and stop him before he could warp Earth's reality again. But it looked like there wasn't a pattern and all the assaults were whims of a thinking creature that operated through both logic and chaos. Like a human.

"Never mind. I don't know what's wrong with Janika. Can you take her inside the Tower so I can materialize her?"

"Of course."

Yumi and Aelita both took an arm and carried their friend toward the Tower. She moaned again and tried to say something, but it was soft and hard to distinguish. The taller girl did catch her whispering Ulrich's name and nearly dropped her right there.

Once inside, Jeremy pressed a combination of keys and Janika vanished from Lyoko. Yumi looked at Aelita. "What was wrong with her?"

**We all know where this is going. Oh, and this chappie was dedicated to _Tanzi_ to keep her from whining at me. (She's kind of a crybaby).  
**


	2. I'm Fine

**4-2: I'm Fine**

****

**I wasn't going to update until this weekend, but since I got so many reviews a corner of Janika's frozen heart melted and she repented, allowing me to put this chappie upnow. T****he plot has only begun, my Precious...**

(((-2-)))

Janika opened her eyes. She saw Yumi and Jeremy standing over her. The genius was the only one wearing an expression of concern.

"Urg," she gurgled. "I feel like I just got hit by a train. Did I?"

"We don't know what happened," Yumi spoke up. She still acted detached. "You wouldn't move."

The dark-haired girl sat up slowly. "I don't remember what happened after you went inside the Tower." She flexed her arms and massaged her temples. Her breaths were coming easily and the fatigue that had just been harassing her vanished into thin air. She felt fine. "I'm feeling a lot better now, so I'm just going to go back to school, okay?"

Jeremy tried to make her stay, but she brushed him off. He let her go finally, but had to stay to try to locate any anomalies in the Polar region that might explain her collapse.

"I'll take her up to the first floor and then I'll be right back, Jer." But Yumi didn't say a word until they were heading upward in the elevator. "You really seem to think you're good enough for Ulrich, don't you?"

"Yumi, I can't help that I'm attracted to him." As an afterthought she added, "It doesn't look like you can either."

Slight blush colored her cheeks but she quickly rubbed it off. "We're friends. You're going to scare him off, you know, behaving like you do. Pretty soon he won't look at either one of us because you make him so nervous."

"Oh, yeah? And how exactly do I behave?"

She didn't wait to hear Yumi's answer, turning on her heel and stepping out of the elevator. Her rival's glare was the last thing she saw as the sliding closed.

Janika took the route through the sewers, using her skateboard. She blanched at the awful smell. You'd think she would have gotten used to it after more than three weeks.

The school was bustling with people. A paper airplane hit her in the side of the head and Janika laughed as she threw it back. Kadic wasn't so bad, really. Not as long as your private thoughts weren't broadcast across the whole campus, anyway.

On the way to her dorm room she passed Jim as he was talking to some younger students.

"Everything is controlled from this room. Breakers, fire alarms, and even the automatic locks on the main doors and stairwells to keep people out during the holidays..."

She continued on by, hardly listening. She wondered vaguely if Jim worked at the school because he didn't have a social life.

The sun was setting as she reached her bed. Janika thought about looking at her laptop, but before she could pick it up, a wave of lethargy overcame her. She hadn't been tired earlier.

(V)

Kiwi saw Janika from his window as she entered the schoolgrounds. He barked and wagged his tail for attention, scrabbling with his tiny claws at the glass.

"What is it, boy?" Odd asked as he stood up to shush his pet. "Is there a nasty cat out there?" He followed Kiwi's gaze and saw the girl far below with her dark brown braid. "Oh, definitely a cat."

She bounced cheerily through the crowd of kids, greeting everyone she met.

"She's cute, huh?" Ulrich said loudly. He was right behind Odd.

His friend started suddenly, then shrugged. "Well, she's not as pretty as _some_ girls."

"Then why do you keep staring at her all the time?" he teased.

"She's part of the team," the blonde shrugged. "I see how _you_ stare at her sometimes." He clasped his hands together and batted his eyes at the other, mockingly.

"I like Yumi better than I like her, and you know it," Ulrich mumbled as he returned to his bed.

"Oh, I suppose that _date_ a couple weeks ago was just out of _charity_."

"You bet it was, and if Yumi finds out about it I'll kill you. It's bad enough that you told her Janika likes me. You still owe me for keeping Miss Cheetah from throttling you."

Odd pretended to be afraid. "Ooh, I'm shakin', I'm shakin'!" He grew serious again. "Honestly, Ulrich, you like her."

His friend laughed outright at that. "Not as much as you do. I'm not the one who disappears whenever I have a chance to be alone with her. You always find an excuse to avoid her. If you're not careful she's going to think you don't like her at all. Don't scare her away."

"Oh yeah? How do _you_ know what goes through her head? I don't see _you_ wearing a cute orange shirt and showing off your chocolate-brown braid!" Odd pranced around the room, imitating Janika's girlish walk. "Chocolate, mmm..."

"All girls talk to girls, and I talk to girls who listen to other gabbing girls. Simple as that. You should try it sometime _without_ being annoying."

"I'll follow your 'expert advice' the day Jim gets married," Odd said rolling his eyes. "Look, just cut me some slack. I'm fine and she's fine."

Kiwi began to growl menacingly. His eyes were still locked on Janika. The fierce rumble escalated and neither boy could calm the dog down. He continued to stare even after she was out of sight.

**Ah! The dogses know the truth, they do! _Gollum gollum!_**


	3. Wildfire

**4-3: Wildfire**

(((-3-)))

Sissy batted her eyes and fingered the necklace clasped around her throat. The small crystal pendant sparkled as the light touched its faceted surface.

"_This?_ Why, thank you for noticing, Ulrich." She stopped and leaned closer. "Is there something in my teeth?"

The mirror made no complaint. It merely told the truth.

"This is so not fair! I've brushed my teeth five times already!" Sighing resolutely, she posed again. "Thank you for _noticing_, Ulrich. _Thank _you for noticing, Ulrich. Thank you for noticing, _Ulrich_."

The lights suddenly flickered and went out. Sissy muttered about the dumb electricity and tucked the necklace beneath her nightgown. She stepped out of the bathroom into the hall and was assaulted by a pungent smell at the same time that she stepped in a puddle.

"Eeew! That's just sick. It smells like a—" she gasped suddenly as it hit her, "—like a gas station!"

Gasoline had been spilt everywhere! Sissy ran to the stairwell and tried to open the door, but it was locked. She panicked and began banging on the door closest to her. It happened to be Janika's. After about a minute it opened.

"What is it, Sissy?" Yumi groaned. She looked very tired and was holding a flashlight. "This had better be good if you woke me up in the middle of the night. I don't know why the power is out, if that's what you're thinking."

"What are you doing here?" Sissy was so shocked she forgot why she was distressed.

"Janika invited me to stay in her room tonight. You know, to talk and get to know each other. We've been on bad terms since last week and I just thought—what's that rancid smell?"

"Someone spilled gasoline all over the floor!" Sissy screamed as she remembered why she had been terrified.

Other doors opened and more girls filed into the hall.

"The stairwell door won't open and we're on the third floor! _How are we going to get_ _out?_"

Yumi looked toward the door at the end of the hall and saw wafts of smoke illumined by the flashlight's beam. Her brain worked furiously.

"Everyone grab some sheets! We have to make a rope to get out of here!"

She ran to the door and stuffed her robe into the crack beneath it to block the smoke. Next she pulled the fire alarm, but it didn't go off.

The twenty or so girls on the floor started screaming along with Sissy, but they all ran to their rooms and got sheets anyway. They clustered together in Janika's dorm, nervously knotting the long cloths into an amateur rope.

Yumi stared at the empty bed beside the window and then called Ulrich on her cell. She could hear Kiwi barking frantically in the background.

"Wake up now! The building's on fire and you guys are in trouble! The electricity is out, the doors won't open, and we're making a rope to get out the window. You'd better do the same."

"We're up. Couldn't sleep with Kiwi barking his head off and Odd refused to gag him. Oh, don't forget to warn Janika." Yumi's hand almost crushed the phone. "She told me once she could sleep through an elephant stampede. I'll warn the first and second floors."

"Janika isn't in her room. I'm standing right here and she's gone," Yumi snarled. "Look, let's worry about this later. Now just worry about getting out."

She helped the girls down the makeshift rope just as the fire exploded past her robe and consumed the entire hall in deadly flames. The stairwell's wall had been soaked with gasoline and the ravenous fire found no opposition as it roared upward.

Yumi and the girls from the third floor helped the other kids as they climbed down more crude ropes made from extension cords and bedspreads. At one point the rope from the fourth floor snapped and the last few kids left in the building were trapped inside.

The fire department showed up as flickering flames and billowing black smoke poured from the windows. The night was illumined by the horrible spectacle.

Yumi could only stare, captivated, as the inferno devoured the dorms. A ladder reached the fourth floor and firemen carried the five unconscious children down to safety. Firehoses blasted into the fire's heart, battling for control.

**Yeah, yeah. I've gotten mixed reviews from my friends saying they would jump out of a burning building even if it was 4 stories high, but let's just pretend that there is some really good reason none of the kids went crazy and leaped to their deaths.**


	4. Possessed

**4-4: Possessed**

**So sad. Janika lost her collection of Final Fantasy soundtracks in the blaze.**

(((-4-)))

Jeremy came up behind Yumi as she was still watching the destruction. "Have you seen Ulrich or Odd?" she asked.

"I thought you knew. They were stuck inside after that rope broke. One of the kids that fell has a broken arm, but it's not too serious. Odd made me go down first carrying Kiwi in my jacket, but he and Ulrich inhaled too much smoke and so did the three others that were with them."

She grabbed him angrily by his collar. "Why didn't you tell me!"

The dark-haired teenager tossed him aside and raced toward the fire trucks. The firemen had placed oxygen masks over the five children. Yumi ran to her friends but Sissy was already at Ulrich's side, holding his hand. He stared up at her as though not sure who she was.

When the fireman took his mask off to let him breathe on his own he said, "Nice necklace."

"This? Oh...uh...thanks," she said blushing. The firelight really made the crystal stand out.

Yumi sat on his other side and leaned close. "Are you all right, Ulrich?"

He tried to answer but started coughing and his eyes bulged. The fireman pushed her away and put the mask back on Ulrich's face. "Please don't make him talk, Miss."

Odd was awake for a moment. Kiwi was curled up at his side. He stared into her eyes and said, "It's X.A.N.A..." then collapsed. He didn't even twitch when she shook his shoulder. At first Yumi thought water from the fire hoses was falling, but then she realized they were her own hot tears.

She overheard one of the firemen talking. "I found another girl on the other side of the building. It looks like she jumped from one of the lower windows during the fire. Wouldn't move. Must be in shock."

The black-haired girl approached him. It was possible. "She doesn't happen to have a long braid, does she?"

The man turned around. "Well yes, as a matter of fact she does."

"She's my friend. Could you please tell me where she is?"

Yumi followed him to the other side of the fire truck where more of the injured kids were being treated by medics. Janika was lying there prone. She was fully dressed, though half her clothes were burnt and her hands were blazed with cracked, blistering skin. She opened her eyes as the other girl knelt in front of her.

"You weren't in your room during the fire, Janika. What were you doing?"

Janika didn't say anything. Her pupils seemed to dilate, changing and reshaping themselves for an instant, and in that split-second Yumi saw that familiar symbol she had learned to fear and hate. A queer smirk flitted across the injured girl's pain-filled face; a gloating smile.

Yumi seized her former friend's shirt and dragged her closer. "I don't know how you did it, but we're not going to let you get away with this!"

She shoved Janika back and stood up. Without another glance at X.A.N.A.'s new tool, she left. She had to find Jeremy and get to the factory.

(V)

"Well of course it's possible. After all, he cloned you before while you were trapped by a Guardian. That might be the case here, but I wouldn't bet on it. X.A.N.A. doesn't usually mimic himself. I think he's too arrogant to use old tricks. There must be something new, some way he's controlling her."

They climbed out of the sewers and ran across the bridge to reach the factory. Yumi was right behind him saying, "It's got to be what happened today. You know, when she blacked out in Lyoko. When you materialized her was she scanned for any viruses or bugs?"

"You guys _always_ are, but I would have to be looking for something specific in order to catch it. I'm sure I still have the record of her transfer on the computer. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what went wrong. _Fixing_ it is the real problem."

The lift dropped to reach the lab and Jeremy punched in the code. They got out and he connected to Lyoko. Aelita stared at him. "Hello, Jeremy. Aren't you normally asleep at this time?"

"Normally, Aelita, but tonight isn't normal. Our dorms were nearly burned down."

"Burned down?"

"I'll explain later, but in the meantime I need you to help me. Did anything go wrong during Janika's transfer back to Earth today?"

The virtual girl did her own calculations and finally answered, "Yes. There was a small bug inside her as she left Lyoko. I am not familiar with its composition. It must be X.A.N.A.'s doing."

"Great, just great. Well, Yumi, it's confirmed: Janika is under X.A.N.A.'s influence. I'm not sure exactly how, but it's happening. Maybe the bug is some sort of mind-control agent. We'd better locate the Tower he activated. I'll virtualize you now, if you're up to it."

"Jeremy, I just saw Odd and Ulrich nearly burned alive. I'm going in whether you want me to or not." Determination was evident in her eyes.

Yumi went down the lift and entered the scanner. She felt the strange virtualizing sensation. When she reformed and fell to the ground there were trees rising up all around her.

"Where's Aelita?"

"I'm here," the girl with strawberry-colored hair came out from behind a tree cautiously. "They are coming."


	5. Attack from Behind

**4-5: Attack from Behind**

**This is the moment of truth. What follows after will go down in history as something that changed the world. Yeah right! It would be nice, though.**

(((-5-)))

The taller girl's fan was out in a moment, ready for action. A Rochster's laser missed her by an inch and she deftly blocked the next shot. Uttering a war cry, Yumi cast her weapon straight at the robot. It sidestepped, but not quickly enough.

The fan boomeranged back to its master and then blocked another barrage. Aelita called out a warning and her friend barely dodged another. The spinning fan arced out and zapped the three remaining Rochsters from existence.

"Well, that wasn't too hard. I didn't even lose any lifepoints." The two digital girls started following the telltale pulsations. "How far is the Tower, Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

There was no answer.

"Jeremy?"

(V)

She hadn't hit him very hard but it still hurt! Jeremy shut his eyes against the bright light. The afterburn of stars and planets continued to swim nauseatingly across his vision and his head pounded. If only he'd been paying more attention he wouldn't have gotten caught unawares! A couple short lengths of cord and wires tied his hands and feet together.

"You children never should have tried to stop me. It was inevitable, you know." Janika was sitting at his console, typing away. Her voice was different... "So many times I came close. So many times I was a hairsbreadth away from destroying you all. I always knew you would slip up one day."

He could hardly hear her over the ringing noise in his ears. The headache subsided and Jeremy looked over. He tried to struggle, loosening the coil wrapped around his wrists. If he could just get free maybe he could stop her before the others reached the Tower and _really _needed him! He could see what she was doing, and it wasn't good.

"You might as well have tried to fight gravity. Ah, yes, here we are. Your main power grid has some flaws in it, one of which is presently active."

Oh no! If X.A.N.A. used the emergency reboot system, Yumi might be erased! With a growl, Jeremy brought the cord up to his teeth and bit down. He yanked the wires and managed to free his thumb. Just a bit more...there! Hastily, he untied his feet and crept silently up behind her.

X.A.N.A.'s puppet was still busy with the program. She was getting ready to delete the virtualized girl when Jeremy seized her in a choke! His arm braced against her throat, squeezing her windpipe closed. Janika's hands scrabbled at him, but he tried to keep her in the chair. With a lunge, she twisted to the side and broke his grip. She coughed spasmodically, hatred eminent in every movement.

The fiery red symbols that had taken the place of her pupils glared at him murderously. Jeremy picked up the metal bar she had used to knock him senseless earlier. He wasn't going down without a fight!

(V)

"Jeremy, please answer!" Aelita called again.

Yumi shook her head. "I'm afraid we only have a little time left to reach the Tower. We'd better move. Who knows what other monsters are lurking out here."

They followed the path until it abruptly ended. "What sort of trick is this?" the shorter girl wondered. "The pulsations cease completely."

The dark-haired one saw something move out of the corner of her eye. "Aelita, see that stump-tunnel? Get inside. I don't know where it goes but we can't stay here."

Without a word she obeyed, slipping down into the safe dark hole while Yumi battled a trio of Hornets that had shown up. The pulsations! She felt them here. How strange. Aelita hoped Yumi would be able to hold out.

(V)

The bar landed on the other side of the room after receiving a deft side-kick. Jeremy grabbed the other's arm as she closed in on him and swung her around with enough force to wrench her arm from its socket. Janika crashed into the wall before crumpling into a heap on the floor and lying still.

He picked up the earphone and checked on his friends. "Yumi, that Hornet nearest to you is the weakest. If you can just get past it, you should be able to join Aelita. She's getting close to the Tower, but it's being guarded by a couple Blocks."

"Where have you been?" Yumi demanded.

The hologram showed one Hornet vanish and she dove down the tunnel.

"Janika showed up. She hit me over the head. I can't believe she made it here." He cast a glance her way and saw the burned skin all over her body. "She looks like she should be in a lot of pain, but doesn't act like it."

Jeremy snapped back as he saw the girl's arm move.


	6. Forgotten

**4-6: Forgotten**

**I'll sick my hairless poodles on anyone who reads without leaving even an anonymous comment! Grrrr!**

(((-6-)))

Janika's arm obeyed her as she came to, but as soon as she moved it, blinding pain ripped through her body. Her eyes flew open as she bit off a scream. Suddenly Jeremy was right there holding her down.

"Janika? Don't move. Are you all right?" He looked down at her pain-filled face. "Okay, stupid question. I meant are you free from X.A.N.A.?"

She seemed to stare straight through him. "Destroy me now before he realizes I'm vulnerable!"

He backed up. "What!?"

"Do it before it's too late, Jeremy. He's there, just out of sight!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

The dark-haired girl shook her head, wincing suddenly from the slight movement. "I didn't know anything about Lyoko, thought it was a game, couldn't see, forgot something important. You need to fix—aaaaahhhh!"

She writhed suddenly on the floor, all her senses exploding with fiery pain and then numbness. Jeremy reluctantly picked up the bar. X.A.N.A. was returning.

(V)

Aelita ducked the red beams and slipped behind a tree. The red-glowing Tower was just beyond that bridge. Yumi poked her head out of the hollow stump and looked at the situation outside. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Here we go."

With a flip, she vaulted out of the hole, throwing her fan straight at the exposed Block. An eye focused on the flying projectile and Yumi could almost see the wheels turning inside its cube-like head. It tried to scuttle out of the way as the fan sped closer, but the weapon was too quick and split it wide instantly.

The Japanese girl landed on the ground and caught her fan as it boomeranged back to her. She saw Aelita dart out and head toward the Tower, but then a slight flash of movement in the shadows off to one side caught her eye.

"Wait, Aelita stop!"

The warning came too late! The second, smarter Block fired a single shot that struck home. Aelita let out half a cry before she froze over.

Yumi screamed angrily, "You stupid robot! I'll shave you down to sawdust!"

Three minutes. X.A.N.A. had three minutes to come up with a new strategy. The geisha glared at the smug little Block and squared off. She could take care of it. Then all she had to do was wait for Aelita to thaw.

"I can take you down without breaking a sweat," she said with a smirk.

Suddenly the air shimmered and changed as a pair of Krabs materialized right in front of her. The teenager's eyes widened and she quickly cast the razor-fan straight at the symbol on one of the monster's shells before it could orient itself.

The Krab exploded, but the other instantly set its sights on her before she could catch her fan. Yumi dove behind a log and covered her head as the great four-legged fiend fired rapidly.

"Jeremy! Where are you?"

(V)

"What do you want?" the blonde boy demanded as he tried to keep Janika at bay.

"Is that the best you can do?" the brown-haired girl snarled savagely. "You've fought me this long and you _still_ don't know? I want what any being deserves: freedom! But I know I can never have that as long as humans exist. You flesh-creatures can't understand a thing."

She reached out, but he struck her hand back with the bar. "Don't do this! There's got to be some other reason, X.A.N.A.. Nothing is evil for the sake of evil."

"Evil? Is that what you consider me?" She gave a coarse laugh, as though not quite sure how to do it. Janika swatted his bar aside. "I'm tired of this child's play."

(V)

Yumi dodged again. How long had she been doing this? Five minutes at _least_. She needed her fan! There it was in plain sight, but the Krab wouldn't sit still long enough for her to dart out and get it! Angrily she ducked again as another blast blew a hole in the tree trunk beside her.

"Heeeee—_ya!_" Yumi called as she sailed over the Krab's metal head and landed beside her abandoned weapon. She swept it up and snapped it open. "Now for some major—ugh!"

A laser from the smart little Block struck her arm and she fell back, tripping over a small log. Her foot got caught in a narrow opening and trapped her securely there. As the warrior tried desperately to free herself, the crab-like monster zeroed in on her. Its laser focused as it stood over the helpless girl.

Desperately, Yumi struck out with her fan. It sliced the Krab's target and circled back in a practiced motion. She nearly cheered but realized suddenly that the sparking monster was toppling forward onto her!

Her foot wouldn't come loose! "Oh well. _Kamikaze!_" She braced herself and felt the explosion wash through her body…

Aelita blinked and looked around. The sound of a detonation echoed behind her. She turned and saw the remains of a Krab.

"Yumi?" But her friend didn't answer. "You were devirtualized for me. Again."

With a gulp, she stared at the Tower. Hopefully Yumi had ridded the area of all the monsters. A flare of lasers ruined that daydream. Once more, Aelita dove aside. This was ridiculous! She _had_ to get there now!

**Right. And she's pretty helpless as it is.**


	7. Returning

**4-7: Returning**

**The point of my stories is to warp your minds so that I control you all! _Mwahahahaha!_ Bow down and accept your fate, pitiful humans! Oh, and could one of you guys bring me a bowl of marshmallows?**

(((-7-)))

The pink-haired girl clenched her fists. Jeremy depended on her! Maybe she didn't have a weapon, but she did know how to trick it.

She dashed toward her opponent suddenly, and as it fired, sprang into the air. She landed on top of the box, making it stagger. It was confused by the unexpected weight. Aelita leaned a hard right and the Block unwillingly tottered that direction until it lost footing on the green slimy fungus and toppled off the edge of the Forest region into the void below.

Lyoko's only inhabitant landed neatly on her feet and dusted her hands off. Now for the Tower.

She had gone no more than three steps when something virtualized between her and the spire. Aelita tensed and backed away. Not a Megatank!

(V)

Yumi put a hand to her head as she rose to the upper level. She had no idea what was going on up there and it was making her nervous. She pressed the button to stop the lift and punched in three numbers for the code.

The doors opened and the black-haired girl barely ducked in time! Janika, covered all over with blackened, blistering skin, swung a heavy metal bar that she shouldn't even have been able to lift in her condition.

Yumi dropped to her knees and then pushed off from the floor, plowing into her former friend's stomach to knock the wind out of her. Janika let go of her weapon and grazed the other girl's face with short but sharp fingernails as she fell to the ground.

Jeremy was lying prone across the room. His friend couldn't tell if he was all right. She hoped he was still alive as she scratched her enemy back.

(V)

Aelita took a running leap and sailed over the Megatank. Unfortunately, the metal monster wasn't stupid. Halfway over, the armored ball suddenly let its energy beam flare! The digital girl was struck in the midsection and landed on the ground, gasping with pain.

How many lifepoints had she lost? Too many, surely. The tank rolled toward her as she rose to her knees. Her eyes closed and she hummed a plaintive note that echoed and rebounded throughout the Forest.

A barrier of stakes rose from the ground at her call, blocking the Megatank. As it paused, the sharpened palisades spread underneath it, lifting the robot up above the forest floor. It opened and readied to fire one final blast when a stake suddenly shot up and pierced the eye-like symbol!

Aelita nearly collapsed as the explosion rocked her back. She had never drawn out her Synth-song so long, and her lifepoints were nearly depleted. But at least she had defeated it.

The way was clear, but she was almost completely exhausted. No, she had to do it.

(V)

Yumi slipped under Janika's guard and elbowed her in the gut before throwing her to the floor. "I don't want to hurt you, even if you are possessed by X.A.N.A."

"Then you're making a grave mistake, _girl!_" Janika muttered as she slipped an arm up and bashed the other in her face.

Yumi staggered back, blood leaking out of her nose. Jeremy was suddenly beside them, holding the burned girl in a firm headlock with one arm. The other he was holding at an odd angle.

"It's too late, X.A.N.A.. Aelita is entering the code now!"

Janika snarled angrily and tried to toss him off, but suddenly she froze, eyes widening and then sliding closed as she went limp. The blonde boy let go of her and hurried to the console. He typed in some digits with his good hand and gave Yumi a look.

"Ready to go back?"

"More than ready."

(V)

Janika blinked and looked around. She saw the ceiling of the scanner room and Jeremy and Yumi were standing over her.

The tall girl looked down at her. "You ok?"

"What just happened?" she wondered as she got to her feet. The world tried to slip out from under her.

Jeremy helped keep his friend steady. "You don't remember?"

The dark-haired teenager shook her head. "I...I remember fire and...and you. I said something important, I think...but I can't remember what it was. What's the matter?"

Later after Janika had been filled in on her possession, Jeremy typed notes into the super-computer's databank. The boy still couldn't believe X.A.N.A. had been able to affect a person directly. He still had no idea how it happened. But what really bothered him was the partial message. She had known something.

Jeremy sighed and leaned back. "What is it Janika was trying to tell me?"

**Don't worry, you'll find out in the next part of the saga, but I'll need my readers' help. Are you people willing?**


End file.
